Well, in most instances the hardware is quite good... The bad thing is usually buggy drivers and with source, *and specifications*, for them it's fixable...

As long as the cost of replacing (some) HW is less than ~$150 you can go ahead and switch since the license of the "modern" os is something you need to think about too... Next would be what you can get for your old hardware.. If not too old you can get a few bucks for it too...

Main issues are motherboard and gfx-card... new motherboard ~$70-$120 for something that works... Graphics card for between $50-$200 depending on what requirements you have..

so 70+50 = easy switch right now..
120+200 = check what you can get for your old motherboard and gfx-card, if more than 120+200-150=$170 you can switch right now too... If less than 170 then wait for the next time you upgrade...

And btw, usually it's only the GFX card that causes issues... Have not had any major issues with any motherboard we have bought the last 3 years except for some BIOS settings that needed to be changed during installation. (AHCI / IDE mode)
(but now i have only been talking about stationary machines... laptops can be a totally different hell)

You have to check out those full-HD abacus'es now... 1920x1080 makes them real nice for working with really big numbers... :)

Infinite loop detected... failure...

not to mention that the more efficient PSU's are usually also build with a higher quality and will last longer..

Have had a few cheapo $60 psu's and they have all broken down within ~2-3 years.. The last i got was about $110 and has been running for about 3 years now... and i pay about 0.2Eur/kWh with all the taxes and crap they put on top...

No, they have a patent-agreement.. http://9to5mac.com/2012/08/13/apple-ios-devices-patents-are-licensed-to-microsoft-anti-cloning-agreement-in-place/

Thing is that Samsung did not agree on a licensing cost of $30 per phone and $40 per tablet so they took it to court... But not to forgot... Apple is also infringing on Samsung patents.....

I do think that android is a bigger threat than microsoft and that's why apple is going after that...

And might that be due to that Apple had never made a cell-phone so they needed to start from scratch with HW etc?

Samsung has been making phones for quite a while, and basing their stuff off android they just ported android to their HW and then customized the GUI, which is much easier than to write a new OS and get a working UI for the phone...

Your comparison of 3 month's vs 5 years don't really say anything if you look at the rest of the stuff...

I do agree that Samsung have taken some design-hints from apple, but i don't think that the patents apple has for those things should be valid since they are quite generic and obvious to most engineers in that market.

Hey, you never know what the Martians might try to install on it! :)

Using a PK scheme might actually be adventitious here.
Some scenarios...

- Transmitting an encrypted image with decryption before writing to flash. This requires some extra cpu for the flashing procedure.. If using a separate "failsafe" module for this would require more advanced equipment.

- Transmitting an encrypted image without decryption when writing to flash. This will require main cpu to decrypt image before running.. Either runtime or once.. If runtime it will take a few cpu cycles ie require more advanced equipment or if only once it will rewrite the unencrypted image to flash there by aging the flash. And since flash only can take a specific amount of writes before failing this would be bad too..

- If using a PK signed image all that would be required would be to transmit the image, unencrypted, to the sw-download module that would write the software to the flash. Extremely simple CPU could be used for this... If main image is corrupt in any way it would detect it before starting...

A Public Key scheme is be as secure as any symmetric key scheme in regards to validating the image that will be executed. It's actually even a bit more secure since a pure symmetric key scheme can upload junk.. They are only on the same level if you add checksums inside the encrypted image..

1. Apple is suing Samsung for patent infringement.
2. Yes.
3. No. But as with all patent-infringement cases the defendant has a right to defend him self by showing prior art that could invalidate the patent(s).

So... It's all about Apple being able to show that their patents are actually valid and for Samsung to defend itself by showing that the patents that Apple has are invalid by either prior-art or that the patent is invalid by being to broad or other things like this...

The thing with patents are that they are not really valid until they have been proven in court. So as long as it's cheaper to license than to sue they will license but when you reach this limit ($30 per phone / $40 per tablet) they will fight back...

Or perhaps they are just using normal signing of images (Public-key crypto) with a good enough hash-algorithm scheme...

No need for multiple round-trips... Send one image and let the rover verify signature of the image, if valid upgrade and if not then scrap the new image and report back...

Well, both are ok... First one is a statement... Second one is an opinion...

And BTW, if it would be illegal to say "you are stupid because you believe in god" then basically every religious person in the world should be put in jail since they are all claiming that the other religions are invalid and stupid and that their own is the only correct one...